


Finally You Put My Love on Top

by sharlatan



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Comatose Bitty, Coming Out, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-21 22:55:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8263429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharlatan/pseuds/sharlatan
Summary: Prompt: Bitty in a coma after a really bad check. What it says on the tin





	

They say lovers feel things in tandem. Alicia told Jack once that she had accidentally sliced her palms open in the kitchen the same night Bob took a spill on the ice and left him on the bench for the rest of the season. 

The night Bitty took the check, Jack was playing his own game against the Devils. Bitty’s game was supposed to end when Jack’s began. Jack wondered, as he was rushing out of the stadium, still in his sweaty under armor, whether or not they took a check at the same time. If Bitty had fell when Jack was roughly thrown against the board by a dman, or if Bitty was checked when Jack tripped on someone’s high stick and bit his tongue so that his mouth is still filled with blood when he hastily parked in front of the hospital and ran inside like a madman. 

“I’m here to see Bittle. Eric Bittle. I heard that he’s in here with a concussion and he’s not- he’s not waking up.” 

General visiting hours were over, and they don’t let him in until Coach Hall gave them the okay and Jack rushed into the room and oh. 

Bittle looked like he’s just sleeping. His face was a little banged up bit but he was breathing normally. There was just an IV drip connected to him, but otherwise he looked fine.

Chowder’s face said otherwise. 

“He-he won’t wake up, Jack. We tried to keep him awake on the way here but he just fell asleep and now he won’t wake up and the doctors think he’s in a coma.”

“I-Okay.” Jack pulled himself together for Chowder. “Go back and get some sleep. Contact his parents if they haven’t heard yet. I’ll stay here.”

When Chowder and Coach Hall reluctantly left him alone with Bitty, Jack crumpled in on himself. He could feel his face scrunching up and the tears leaking out as the gripped Bitty’s small hand in his. 

Bitty has to be okay, there’s no way he wasn’t going to make it through this. Jack believed in him, and Bitty was starting to believe in himself too. He was playing so well, and graduation was only a few months away. Jack was going to be able to see his boyfriend get his diploma. They were going to tell Bitty’s parents about them. Jack was-Jack had already bought a ring. 

He stayed, gripping Bitty’s hand like a lifeline, eyes haunting the dark room. Bitty was in a ward, with other patients. He should be able to get him a private room if-no, there’s no if. Bitty will wake up soon. 

“Sir, sir we need you to leave,” a nurse told him.

Jack didn’t hear him. 

“Sir, we understand your grief but we need you to leave for the safety and comfort of your loved one and others’.”

Jack refused to hear him. 

“Brah, let’s go.” Eventually a gentle voice and hand tugged him away from Bitty. Jack let Shitty move him around, because Shitty was his best friend, because Shitty also loved Bitty, but not like Jack.

“He’s not waking up,” Jack whispered.

“He will, and he’ll be mad that you were making trouble for the hospital staff when he does.”

Jack sobbed into Shitty’s shoulders, as he was forced to leave the room, leaving Bitty further and further behind. 

Shitty, who knew via group chat that Bitty was hurt and rushed over to the hospital, managed to wrangle Jack into his car. Once they stepped foot into Jack’s apartment, Jack’s routine took over. He took a shower, microwaved some chicken for both him and Shitty and the two of them ate in silence. 

“Do you have him as your ICE in your phone?” Shitty asked suddenly. 

“I-no. We never thought about…you’re right,” Jack took out his phone and added “Eric Bittle” to his In Case of Emergency responder list. He never wanted Bitty to come rushing to the hospital like he did only to be turned away like he almost was.

Jack’s phone pinged, it was Chowder texting to tell him that Bitty’s parents were notified and they were taking the quickest flight to Boston. Jack’s heart jumped. Bitty’s parents, he almost forgot about them.

He called Suzanne, but her phone only went to voicemail. They must already on the plane, Jack realized. He left a voicemail on her phone offering his place for her and Mr. Bittle to stay. He had things to do, emails to write, policies to research. Jack kicked into action; he called the Falconer’s coach and Georgia to let them know he’s not going to be at practice tomorrow because of a family emergency. He wrote to his mother and cancelled his off season plans in Montreal; with a concussion as bad as Bitty’s he probably won’t be able to move around quickly, much less travel anywhere. 

“I’m going to pick up Bitty’s parents at the airport,” he told Shitty, gathering his keys and jacket.

“His mom hasn’t even heard your voicemail yet, they’re still on the plane,” Shitty argued.

“This way I’ll be there immediately when they land,” Jack reasoned. “Don’t worry, I have this.” 

He’s all cried out, right now he’s only functioning on the list of objectives that he knew he needed to complete.

He drove to the airport and waited, until his phone rang with Suzanne Bittle’s icon.

“Ma’am, I’m here,” he said. “Just tell me which gate you and Mr. Bittle are at.”

“Oh, thank you so much, Jack!” 

Suzanne Bittle’s eyes were red rimmed, much like Jack’s own. Jack took their luggage despite their protests and led them to his car, trying to update them on as much of Bitty’s conditions as he could.

“They’re going to do further tests on him,” he checked the time. “I’ll drop you off at place so you can freshen up and then Shitty can take you to the hospital. Don’t worry,” he told a stricken Suzanne Bittle, “I’ll make sure they take good care of him.”

“There’s no need to stop at your place, we’ll go see him now,” Mr. Bittle said. 

“…Alright.” He was grateful that he was going to be able to see Bitty sooner. 

“Thank you so much,” Mrs. Bittle said again. “I’m so grateful that Dicky has a friend like you.”

“There’s no problem, he’s one of my closest friends. Bitty’s a great person,” Jack said, tightening his hands around the wheels. He wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to keep up the facade of just friends in front of the Bittles when he finally sees Bitty again. Jack’s not even sure he won’t burst into tears when he walks in and sees Bitty’s motionless body. 

He managed to reign himself in as Suzanne collapsed her son’s prone figure, as Mr. Bittle quietly asked the doctor what they can do, what’s the update.

When neither of them were in the ward anymore, Jack finally let himself slump down next to Bitty and take his hand. It was so fragile, and there was that cut that Bitty had accidentally made when he cooking the other day. The exhaustion finally caught up with him; Bitty’s face had always made him more peaceful, even in his coma. 

“ _Mon amor, je’taime,_ ” he muttered, before slipping off into a light nap.

They’re going to transfer Bitty to a better hospital, into a private room, at Jack’s insistence. He then convinced the Bittles to go back to his apartment and rest; the doctors are going to keep them updated. Jack had always made sure that his guestrooms were kept clean, and he offered them the largest. 

He knew their eyes wandered when they walked into his apartment. He’d forgotten to take down the post it notes stuck to his fridge, but even with Suzanne and Coach being too tired to notice the handwriting and the signature, Bitty was all over the place. He left his shoes, his jacket, there were several of his pie tins stacked in the kitchen, and he had forgotten to pick up his french notecards the last time he was here. 

Jack made no explanation, but after showing them to their room, he slowly picked off the loving notes stuck on his fridge and stored them away.

Jack played his games and went to his practices. He told the Bittles that they are one hundred percent welcome to stay at his place until Bitty woke up, prompting an interesting question about the amount of stuff that Bitty had over at his place.

“Yeah, we were talking about his job prospects in Providence,” Jack explained. “I offered my place. We’ve been housemates before, and it’s worked out back at Samwell so we figured why not room together outside? I guess with him constantly visiting for my games he just forgot a lot of stuff here.”

“I guess he’s really not coming back home,” Suzanne said sadly, she started crying again. “I don’t even care about that, I just want my baby back.” 

The doctors had came to them with inconclusive results. The only solution was to wait for Bitty to wake up. Coach had to fly back down to Georgia for his job, but Jack and Suzanne promised him daily updates on Bitty’s conditions, and he gave his comatose son a choked farewell before briskly leaving for the airport.

Suzanne worried about overstaying her welcome at Jack’s, but Jack insisted that she stay and not look for any hotels. He wanted her to be as comfortable as possible while they waited for Bitty. There was a small, selfish part of Jack that insisted because he was deathly afraid that the Bittles would transfer Bitty back to their home in Georgia, where Jack wouldn’t be able to see him.

He skated, he played, he worked out. He would make time to visit Bitty for hours. Jack knew that his actions had already far exceeded what Suzanne would consider “just friendly,” but there was nothing he could do. He could never pretend not to care about Bitty, but he couldn’t break Bitty’s trust and out him to his parents. 

In Bitty’s room, Jack would read out loud funny tweets, and talk about the shenanigans that the Falconers got up to. When he was sure that Suzanne wasn’t there, he would hold onto Bitty’s hand and maybe give him an occasional forehead kiss. 

“I miss you, _mon coeur_ ,” he’d whisper.

He suspected that Suzanne at least had an idea about his own feelings, if not about the relationship with Bitty. 

“I can’t wait for his wedding,” she said one day, out of the blue when they were visiting Bitty. “I know he’d go crazy over the planning and the catering. And I know his bride will be so beautiful. Dicky’s never had time for a girlfriend back home or in college, but I know he’ll soon wake up and-and- he’s always wanted a wedding.” 

The thought of the ring that Jack had bought and stashed in his closet burned awkwardly in his mind.

“I’m sure he does,” Jack said awkwardly.

* * *

_The funeral was nice. Not too overdone, not too shabby. Everything was very clean and neat, the way Bitty would’ve liked it. Jack had softly slipped the ring he had been intending to propose with onto Bitty’s finger and sobbed when it happened. Bitty’s parents were there but Jack didn’t care anymore, he let his affections flow free, his love poured into the dead man lying in front of him…_

Jack woke up in a cold sweat. He forced himself not to go and see Bitty immediately. Run, take a shower, go to practice, have lunch with Suzanne, race off to the hospital. 

Bitty was still there, his monitor was still normal. 

“I thought I almost lost you, Bits.” He slumped down and pressed his face against his hands. “I thought I almost lost you, did you know how scared I was? I love you so much, I thought we were going to lose it all.

‘You said you wanted a dog, a cute labrador. We could get one after you move in. Weren’t there several animal shelters that you were looking at? I went to some of them and they had so many dogs that I knew you’d love. I think your mom tried to hint to me that you’re straight and wanted an elaborate wedding with a bride. How much would Shitty pay to see me in a dress? Hah. Here I am talking about weddings when I haven’t even proposed yet. Shitty said I should wait for another year, but I was planning on asking you when you graduate.

‘It’s only been a week and a half, but it feels so long. I miss you so much.” 

“Jack Zimmermann, you’re going to be the death of me,” a weak voice said. “Proposing to a man before he’s even outta bed.” 

“Bits?” Jack looked up, and there was Bitty. Glorious Bitty, Bitty with open eyes and a weak smile. Bitty who’s reaching for him, touching him. 

“Who else is in here?”

“Bits!” He engulfed Bitty in a hug, eager to feel the warm press of his body, to have Bitty curl his hands in his shoulders. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“So I’ve heard,” Bitty smiled. “Now maybe you should call a doctor?”

* * *

Bitty wasn’t able to be discharged that day, and he was forbidden from playing for the rest of the season. Suzanne wept tears of joy and called her husband immediately, and they Facetimed him in the hospital room. 

The entirety of the Samwell team was forbidden from visiting lest they disturb other patients. 

After the hubbub, Jack and Bitty had a short talk, before asking Suzanne to sit down because they had something to tell her.

“Jack and I are dating,” Bitty said. 

“Oh, oh!” She looked shocked. “I-I’m going to have to call Richard. But don’t you believe for one second I love you any less, Dicky. This is just a lot to take in.” 

She wandered out of the room, still in shock.

“I can’t believe she thought you were gay before even thinking about me,” Bitty said. 

“She’s already coming around,” Jack shrugged. He nuzzled his face into the crook of Bitty’s shoulders. “I’m just so glad you’re awake.”

“So am I, sweetie. So am I.”  


End file.
